We are Eloísa
Cartonera, a work cooperative placed in the neighborhood of La Boca
in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. We produce handmade books with
cardboard covers. We purchase this cardboard from the urban pickers ("cartoneros")
who pick it from the streets. Our books are of Latin American literature,
the most beautiful we had a chance to read in our lives, both as publishers
as well as readers.

It all began with the
crisis of 2001 - as some say "we are a product of the crisis,"
or that we "aestheticized misery". Actually, it was nothing
like that. We were a group of people who came together to work in a different
way, to learn new things through work, to build up a cooperative, to learn
how to subsist and manage ourselves, to work towards a common good. Like
many of the movements and collectives born from these insane times, we
organized into a cooperative or a small assembly group, as there were
also neighborhood and community groups, all sorts of social movements.
People, workers and neighbors, there we were.

Through all this time
we rejoice on the fact we were able to put so much love into the work
we did. The previous catalog already contained 100 titles - and today
we are already reaching 200. They're the most varied and entertaining
works of literature (poetry, short stories, short novels, theater plays,
literature for children) from Argentina and siblings countries. This brings
us true joy!

And how much this had
to do with you, our dear friends and readers, whom supported us all this
time, accepting our books, recommending them, spreading the word, getting
in touch, stopping by. In short, always there for us. The most valuable
a publishing house can have in addition to good books, of course, is a
group of good friends and dedicated readers.
Thank you for always expecting a new title!

Our freshest news are
that we recently published Las Casas del viento
(Houses of Wind) our super colorful second book for children, from our
good friend Ernesto Camilli, a classic of argentinean
literature. ¡We hope one day all Venezuelans children read it!

We published another book by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, a true
jewel in any publisher's catalog. And you already know Alemián
Manuelito, Gabriela Bejerma, Ricardo
Piña, Andres Caicedo, Fabian
Casas and so many of the writers well worth reading and discovering.Enrique Lihn, for example, is a Chilean writer, an American
poet, a writer who was in Peru and wrote a book, was in Cuba and wrote
a book. He was in Buenos Aires and... he wrote a book! From him we will
edit an anthology, to be called Poeta y Extranjero
(Poet and foreigner) and which brings together the five books
we have already published in photocopy.

Our dream is to edit
the complete stories of Rodolfo Walsh, an Argentine writer,
an intellectual amongst the people, a formidable journalist killed by
the military in 1976. Walsh, along with Urondo Francisco,
Bustos, Conti or Santoro,
is one of our leading intelectuals, and we should all be discovering and
praising their work.

All this and more, never
forgetting our usual friends, Aira and his La
Casa de Cartón (The Carton House); Martín
Adán; the writings of Juan Incardona,
the short stories of Fabián Casas, the poems of
Gonzalo Millán, the children stories of
Ricardo Zelarayán

We want to get ourselves
a piece of land, stop paying rent and organize our own headquarters. So
many things ...

Today we can say that
we are a product of all the work we have done, and we thrive for our work
to serve all. Making books, or in the future doing other things, that
is the spirit of our endeavor. To translate our work into experience,
a place that serves many colleagues more.
We do not want to close a circle around ourselves. We welcome new colleagues,
fresh ideas, look for ways to do more, or better. That's why our "carto"
(as we lovingly call it, a diminuitive from "cartonera") is
an open space for everyone.
We hope and live the revolution of the people!

Eloisa
Cartonera was born in 2003...

Eloísa Cartonera
was born in 2003, in those furious days when people took the streets,
protesting, fighting, gathering in neighborhood assemblies, the barter
clubs, all sorts of communal and collaborative endeavours.

In those days, both men
as women lost their jobs and headed to the streets, where they met each
other, and we all met with the "cartoneros" (cardboard pickers).

It was summer, and Javier
Barilaro and Washington Cucurto were busy producing some colorfoul poetry
books. Eloísa was the name of a charming Bolivian Javier was in
love with, and the name of the publisher became an ode to her. The story
tells that they never did get together, but despite all that Javier and
his friends went on producing beautiful and love-inspired books. Thank
you, Eloísa, for your beauty!

Then one day came Fernanda ... an yellow late afternoon, a pink bike,
and a green skirt, like spring itself. She proposed to open an workshop
at Guardia Vieja street. That was how Eloísa Cartonera was born,
in the spring of 2003.

We first started selling
both books as well as vegetables. We were an imediate success both in
our neighborhoud as well as in the world press. Newspapers and radios
from all around the world came to take pictures with us. We started realising
how beautiful our books were and how much people liked them...

We designed a very simple work system. Making a cartonero-book is quite
simple, but let's not forget we do it all ourselves! The "cartoneros"
bring the cardboard. To this we select, cut, paint, mount, glue, everything
that a cartonero-book needs. We also print everything here, in an old
German Multilit 1250, which we very slowly grow accustumed to, even if
it not always works out so well.

So many names, so many
colleagues have have passed here... By the way, I take this opportunity
to see if we can trace the whereabouts of Alboroto, how cameraman, who
shot the first film ever made about Eloisa. La lectora que
se volvió loca (The reader who went insane) is the
name of this film which we would so much like to recover.

So many friends and colleagues:
the Ramos brothers, Alberto, Victoria;
the Portillo brothers ; Marilin and
Bato, who worte teir thesis on Eloísa; Georgina
and Magalí. Nicolás,
the historian. Pablo Martín,who built this website.
Cristian, Ramona, Juliancito,the door
man!Celia, Daniela, Franco, Germán, Manuel Alemián.
Surely we forgot to name too many... Don't get angry, we take you in our
hearts ... thank
you all and all to come!

We had to learn everything
from scratch: our first book was published Pendejo,
(Shameless) by Gabriela Bejerman. Gabriela is a beautiful
poet, performer and latin pop singer.
We have published so many bautiful books that it would be unfair to forget
even one, so please consult the catalog for more
information.

We travelled all over
the country from book fair to book fair, and got in touch with so many
other realities. Thank you La Rioja, Mendonza, Trelew! Thank you Mar del
Plata, Chaco, Córdoba! Thank you Tucumán, Salta and Jujuy!
Greetings to Entre Rios, Reconsquita and Santa Fe!
Overall, the best thing that happened to us, besides meeting all of you,
was to become a cooperative. It was a true awakening to how work can become
the best part of your life, and never an obligation, something unpleasant.
It became a dreamcome true, to work in our project.
We learned to trustone another and to be better partners, to strive for
a common purpose, for something more than our own bellybutton. Cooperativism
showed us our strength. That was how we learned everything we now know,
and we remain eager to learn more.

We now have a new project.
We will buy a piece of land in Florencio, in Varela. One hectare of land.
We will build a house and start an organic food garden, and in the future
a school and everything that might come to take us ...

We believe that we must return closer to the earth, reconcile with it
and work from it. Land and labor can make the most beautiful clay sculpture.
There we can cut our cardboard and mount thousands of beautiful books,
with more and more friends.